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Eats, treats & lodging

Organic blueberries ready to be picked, Shari's Berries, August 7, 2012
We went to Shari's Berries this week to pick blueberries. While it was raining heavily in Duluth and all the way up the expressway toward Two Harbors, as soon as we turned up Homestead Road and away from Lake Superior, we drove out of the rain. Typical Lake Superior "funk" (and I don't mean the musical style, just the cool, gray moist lake-effect so-called weather)The gray funky feeling stayed with us for berry picking. Shari herself met us at the gate and immediately started apologizing for the picking conditions. Maybe … read more

The North East Minnesota Books Award winners were announced last week, and the winner for fiction is....the North Shore and Lake Superior!! Actually, it was the debut novel of Peter Geye, Safe from the Sea. Ostensibly the story of reconciliation between father and son, the real star of the book is ominous Lake Superior and the colorful communities and people that cling to the lake's edges.
This is a short novel sprinkled with cultural references familiar to anyone who's spent some time in Duluth and on the North Shore. The names have been changed, but you can spend time at the Anchor … read more

How can you share your love of the North Shore with the friends and family on your gift list? Here are ideas for gifts that will make your loved ones' Christmas morning feel like finding the perfect agate or the biggest blueberry patch. This year, buy local...buy on the North Shore.
1. Wood engravings, lino cuts, and giclee prints, oh my!One-of-a-kind notecards, groovy t-shirts, whimsical prints, and northwoods novelties come from our friends at Kenspeckle Letterpress. Rick and Marian produce their magical art in Duluth's Canal Park.
2. The sweet stuffWho doesn't love real maple syrup on their pancakes? The North Shore … read more

Once every year or so, Sally and I pack up for the night and head to the South Shore of Lake Superior. I get enough of the cold and sterile North Shore, where fog creates the forests and the soil is thinner than a Perkins pancake.We went for a concert at the Big Top Chautauqua (Los Lonely Boys), but we stayed for the blueberries.Years ago, as we climbed the flanks of some Montana mountain, Sally quoted Garrison Keillor, "California is the girl you want to date; Minnesota is the woman you want to marry." So I married the Minnesota girl. … read more

One of the hardest parts of the day when you're camping on the North Shore can be dinner time. I love company at meals, but I don't relish being the meal. Whether it's mosquitoes or blackflies, the bloodsuckers come out right about the time you want to be calmly preparing your campfire delicacies.So I've come to really appreciate a nice campground restaurant. You can dine at your leisure, even into the evening hours when just the hum of mosquitoes gets unbearable. Then you can dash back to your tent. Dine and dash, except in this case you pay the bill … read more